Wildlife Blog

Big Cat Week on Nat Geo WILD

Monday, December 6 kicks off Big Cat Week on the Nat Geo WILD channel — seven nights of programs dedicated to the world’s fiercest felines. The event is an extension of the Big Cats Initiative, a long-term commitment by the National Geographic Society and Nat Geo WILD to stop poaching, save habitat, and raise the call that big steps are needed to save big cats around the world.

Photo by Beverly Joubert

Don’t miss the premieres of these films:

Big Cat Odyssey: Monday, December 6, at 9pm ET/PT
Award-winning filmmakers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert set out 30 years ago on a quest to get close to big cats. Big Cat Odyssey chronicles their meticulous work over three decades of filming, photographing and documenting the behavior of big cat species in Botswana.

Photo by Beverly Joubert

The video below depicts the attack of a buffalo by a whole pride of lions.

Leopard Queen: Tuesday, December 7, at 9pm ET/PT
Filmmaker John Varty, who filmed a wild female leopard for 17 years, opens an extraordinary window into the lives of Africa’s most secretive big cat. Leopard Queen follows the life of “Manana,” a wild leopard whose territory spans the heart of the Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa.

Photo by Susanne Baden

In the video below, watch Manana as a cub, exploring the world around her and learning essential survival skills.

Lion Warriors: Wednesday, December 8, at 9pm ET/PT
In the Great Plains below Mt. Kilimanjaro in Kenya, Maasai warriors have a centuries-old tradition of killing the lions that kill their cattle. But now only about 2000 lions are left in the country (and the number is dropping), so Maasai elders and chiefs have forbidden the warriors to kill them. Wildlife filmmaker Kire Godal, with the support of executive producers Dereck and Beverly Joubert, captures firsthand the struggle of these modern-day warriors, who are reinventing their traditions to help save the lions they once prided themselves on killing.

Photo by Richard Jones

The video below shows the initiation of two Maasai teens where they will officially become warriors and men.

Lions on the Edge: Thursday, December 9, at 9PM ET/PT
Ruaha National Park in Tanzania used to be a true paradise for wildlife gathered around the rich Ruaha riverbanks. Now, the worst drought in decades is pushing all the animals on a march to find water. The animals follow the dry riverbed upstream for water, while circling prides of lions position themselves close by, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Watch the hunting strategies of the lion pride as they attack a herd of zebras in the video below.

Also featured during Big Cat Week are two specials that take place in Botswana’s Okavango Delta: Eye of the Leopard, which captures the life of a female leopard, from cub to feared predator, and Relentless Enemies, which focuses on the fight for survival of highly specialized lions that prey almost exclusively on buffalo.

Those cats are so beautiful. If given the opportunity I would love to bring my kids in some areas with wildlife animals and have an up close and personal experience with the cats. I am so happy that there are still lions or tigers being protected and preserve despite the increasing cruelty and abuse in the wild.